Junge, reached by phone on the set of a commercial shoot in Detroit, expressed surprise at the number of nominations (he won one previously for 2008’s “They Killed Sister Dorothy,” also on HBO). “Saving Face” is nominated as best documentary, outstanding research, cinematography, editing and as best science program.

About the day job, making RAM trucks look good, he said, “it’s a living.”

While hard numbers are impossible to come by, Junge and his team hear there’s been a decline in the number of acid attacks since the film became a global phenomenon. They made the tough decision not to distribute the film in Pakistan in order to protect the women in the film.

Junge’s upcoming projects are distinctly lighter fare: an authorized history of the Lego toy company and a film about daredevil Evel Knieval for A&E. “It was definitely a conscious decision to do some more populist fare and try to lighten up. I’ve done gloom and doom for practically my entire career. It’s nice to do lighter stuff.”

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.